Who Built That summary

When people become inventors, what are they aspiring to? A place in history? Money? Progress for society? For tinkerpreneurs, all three of these dreams are vital, because, for them, inventing is about doing business. And business means being opportunistic.

One tinkerpreneur that exemplifies this is Tony Maglica. Born in Croatia, this aspiring inventor came to the United States with hardly anything to his name. He took up and excelled in a position as a contractor, working harder, faster and longer than the others. This earned him a reputation for skill and integrity.

The world is full of party poopers, and if you’re a tinkerpreneur, you have to be prepared to fight them. The story of the Roebling family is a good example of how true tinkerpreneurs stick to their guns.

John Roebling, who would go on to patent a revolutionary wire rope, came from Prussia. There, he had first-hand experience with how time-consuming and wasteful the rope-making process was. He also noticed that no procedures could be improved without government approval. The Prussian government favored conformity over creativity, so Roebling moved to the United States, where he patented and promoted his invention with great success.

Sometimes the innovations with the biggest impacts are the result of the simplest solutions. Take the humble crown cap, a little invention that made it possible to seal bottles safely, hygienically and cheaply.

William Painter, inventor of the crown cap, also faced critics and naysayers. To prove that his crown cap really did keep soda fresh, he shipped bottles closed with the cap to South America and back – a trip of 40 days – and celebrated their return with a tasting. Everyone agreed that the soda tasted as if it had been freshly bottled. Disposable and incredibly cost-effective, his invention became the industry standard, and the beverage industry was revolutionized.

As we’ve seen, invention is seldom a solitary job. Two heads are almost always better than one. Just consider Edward Libbey and Michael Owens, the team responsible for changing the way we produce glass.

Owens was an engineer; Libbey promoted and defended property rights. In an industry as cut-throat and secretive as the glass industry, Owens and Libbey wouldn’t have had success if they hadn’t had each other.

The United States used to be a paradise for innovation. Why? Because of the US patent system – a unique structure that boosted small-scale inventors and allowed their innovations to be used throughout the world.

Established way back in 1790, the US patent system is market-based. The underlying idea is that financial reward fuels innovation, and that therefore patent holders should be entitled to sell, license or assign patents to others for monetary gain. In return, inventors agree to public disclosure and an expiration of the patent after a limited time period.